


Love at First Fight

by skullgrunt



Category: Splatoon
Genre: It's not really agent 24, Other, and they're lesbians gdkfjgh, but its FAIRLY close since, these are my agents, this is actually the first time they met!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-29 11:30:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20435288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skullgrunt/pseuds/skullgrunt
Summary: Musically Driven but harshly silenced by her commander, a young Octarian soldier is given a chance to prove her worth with a big job, but can she live up to the task?Incredible art by my good pal @SoupyBird !! Their art is incredible please go check em out!





	Love at First Fight

**Author's Note:**

> This was one of the HARDEST fic's I've ever written, I couldn't listen to music as it threw off my groove to write lyrics and guh it was /extremely/ tough to work through, and since fight scenes aren't my thing that doubled the difficulty, but I feel good about what I have so I really wanna share it! Especially because the art is so stunning! 
> 
> THE ART HERE WAS DONE BY MY INCREDIBLY TALENTED PAL SOUP OVER AT @SOUPYBIRD THEIR ART IS SO EXPRESSIVE N STUNNING AND FUN ITS BIG BLESSED.
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy a stupid fools rambligs about their idiot gays first meeting.

_Thunk. Thunk. Thunk._

Was every mission going to be as mind numbingly boring as this one? Because if so, L-3551 wasn’t so sure this soldier thing was cut out for her. This was supposed to be a big thing right, like a test? Her commander sure made it _seem_ important but she’d been sitting around tapping her foot against her discarded Octoshot for what seemed like an eternity.

So many utterings of ‘Okay, 3551, this is important.’ and ‘This is a big opportunity for the pod, so don’t mess up.’ yet what was she doing? Sitting in an empty warehouse in the dark. Just her and her thoughts… oh, and this zapfish of course.

Amber eyes turn to the small capsule ball holding the poor fella hostage, giving a sympathetic wince. A clawed hand reaching out to touch the glass softly, watching it react in an odd way to her touch, small fizzles and spurts of electricity bouncing from the sudden contact. 

They seemed to give her a confused look, a shudder following suite as the pinchers holding the fish’s whiskers in place shook under the intense pressure of receiving those ever so important shocks. 

Sighing loudly through her nose, the Octarian slumped down onto a nearby crate, shoulders hunched. The whole reason she was stationed here in the first place was because it was… ‘predicted’ that Agent Three of all people was supposed to be storming through here. Why she was picked out of everyone from her pod she wasn’t entirely sure…

It’s not that she wasn’t listening to her commanders instructions, no of course she was! Just… the excitement from finally getting assigned a task that wasn’t just ‘staying out of trouble’ must’ve blocked her ears because she couldn’t for the life of her remember when exactly Agent Three was supposed to pop in and how long she was supposed to be stationed here.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

Why was Agent Three coming to a warehouse anyways, there was more exciting places to go in the Canyon than this stuffy old building. Panels lined the walls around her, the ones she could see that weren’t being blocked by crates at least, attempting to mimic the night sky… even though it was broad daylight above ground. Other than that, it was just crates. Crates for miles, an entire labyrinth of wood and cod knows _what_ else. A small twitch of curiosity caused her claw tips to jump anxiously against her face. 

An urge to rummage and scavenge about to see what exactly was in here was becoming tempting but… she knew better than that. Scoldings from her commander were never enjoyable. She’d rather not have the next few hours include staring at a wall and having no one to converse with… that _sucked._ Being punished just _sucked._

Her eyes flickered down to her boot laced with belts and buckles. Watching as the metal parts shifted and reflected with each tap of her foot, rather thankful to be able to actually see all of the little colours mixed into the whites and grey of the buckle.. Her goggles, which were supposed to be mandatory attire but its not like anyone was gonna find her here, resting to the side. Usually they coloured the world purple but she’d come to learn that everything looked better without having to stare through tinted lenses.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

One hand shifted down to rest beside her, right ear twitching for a moment before one clawed finger began to tap against the box she was seated on. It wasn’t anything incredible to listen to from an outsider's perspective but to this young Octopus, it had gripped her interest more than it probably should have. Starting to create a steady rhythm with the flat end of her boot and her finger tips, a low hum rumbled in her throat as she began to mutter.

_What’s the point of spending hours_  
_Surrounded by bolts and screws._  
_Wouldn’t you rather be up with the flowers?_  
_A whole different kinda worldview._

Clicking her tongue, a soft smile rested across her face. Don’t tell anyone, but 3551 here really enjoyed doing… whatever this was. She hadn’t really heard a word to describe it but whatever it was, it felt good. Though many trial and error had brought her to realise her pod _absolutely_ did not share the same feelings on whatever this was. Infact, they really disliked it. Which, in her opinion, is just bad taste. 

Her taps and stomps halted momentarily as she glanced from left to right as if her commander was going to rise out of the nearby pile of rolled up scrolls discarded on the ground and tug at her ear to come back to the barracks… it was just to be careful. But once she was sure she was safe on her musical ventures, the tapping and humming picked up again- even louder if anything.

_Can’t you think outside the box- crate, maybe?_  
_I ain’t asking to be the leading lady but-_  
_Its gotta be better up there than it is down here_  
_Livin’ all fake woven lies carved out of fear._

Now up on her feet, the soldier wasn’t afraid to stretch her vocal chords a little more, waist swaying from side to side as sang and hummed whatever her mind and mouth were trying to haphazardly throw together in harmony. It wasn’t _good_ by any means, but to the Octoling? It was everything, being able to speak her mind and feelings in this fun, exciting and joyus way without getting shit for it was an extreme rarity. So no way in hell was she taking this for granted.

_Put a little faith, a little trust in me will ya?_  
_I’ve been up there, more than you’d know, more than you’d think!_  
_And lemme tell ya, nothing I say nothing can beat a bright blue sky_  
_‘N the sound of a seagull’s wing!_

Pressing sharp on her heel and turning into a spin she was quick lean down and snatch one of the scrolls. It was right there, ripe for the picking! And how could she not! Not missing a single beat as she held the slightly damaged, vaguely wet paper to tight in her grip, eyes squeezed shut.

_Oh wouldn’t you rather spend your days up on the surface_  
_Feeling the grass and flowers instead of spending_  
_Hours and hours_  
_Down here sulking in the dark!_

_Oh I wanna be in Ink-o-po-lis~!_

With one foot suddenly launched towards the zapfish canister, anyone would have assumed she was attempting to shatter it, but no. She just wanted to slam her boot where it felt right; above ground with her knee bent! She didn’t know why but it felt fucking _cool!_. Free hand raised up with one claw pointing up towards the ceiling and usually confined voice bouncing off of whatever surface it could in the large structure,coo’ing and calling into the scrap paper with as much passion as a silenced musician could muster. 

Though what was a creator without an audience, luckily for this soldier she was garnering quite the extra special one. Back pressed against the wall and head tilted to watch the show, a young Inkling was drawn in by what was going on. Blue eyes glazed over with a hue of interest and mouth slightly ajar as one hand gripped the wall. She knew in the back of her mind not to venture or lean out _too_ far since this was an Octarian soldier she was dealing with but…

Agent Three had _never_ seen the likes of this before. 

  


A few moments prior the other girl was sneaking around and getting ready for a scrap if she was ever caught (Which had totally _never_ happened before. Agent Three was a _Stealth MASTER_ and that's who she was! So! Never been caught once in her life!) but here she was, right at the sight of operation where she needed to be with the perfect chance to take her target down… and she was completely stationary. 

Now, She had met Octolings. Come face to face with many different kinds before! She knew what they were like! Especially with Capp’n’s stories she knew how bloodthirsty these Octopi could be, but not _once_ had she ever seen an Octoling do...

Whatever this was. 

Well, whatever it was, she was entranced. Corners of her lips twitched into a slight smile as she watched the other twist and turn and yell into her makeshift microphone. The young Agent didn’t know what the other was saying but something about the way she moved, the way she sung, it was oddly… _catchy?_ If her fingers gently tapping against the crates had anything to say about it, it was _very_ catchy. Hell, from what she could see from here, even the Zapfish seemed to be into it!

But alas her fascination with the enemies sick as fuck dance moves and vocals had the chord pulled pretty quickly as Cuttlefish’s voice assulted her senses. The crackle of her radio sparked to life and swapped her relaxed posture to something much more stern and uptight. Her back straightened against the crate as she suddenly remembered where the fuck she was.

“Three, my girl, are you anywhere near the Zapfish?”

“Y-yeah, yeah! M’working on it” 

_Couldn’t you just see me THRI-ving!_  
_Up in that dreaded city of Ink-o-pol-is!_  
_Far away from regulations,_  
_Where everyone can hear my VOICE!_

_Judgement? Not here, not in the place_  
_I’m supposed to hate. I’m supposed to fear._  
_All I hear is the chance, is the gate opening to the long awaited_  
_Paradise of Serendipity for me!_

Oh!!! _OOOoh._ 3551 liked that word!!! Her nose scrunched up in excitement as she flung her hand outwards towards the Zapfish’s containment bubble. “TAKE IT AWAY BUD!” 

…

  


Huh.

That was… odd. She knew Zapfish weren’t exactly talkative but c’mon man throw her a bone!, a little spark or sound or _something!_... Eyes slowly opening to flash her contained companion a look of disappointment (I mean, come on, she had a whole thing goin’ there!) were seized the moment she noticed how… dark it was all of a sudden.

So now they were slacking on not just keeping her groove goin’ but keeping the damn lights on too? I mean, she can’t really be too mad about that last one, shit’s gotta be exhausting doing that 24/7 with no breaks but- 

Oh…

The usual rounded container sitting atop the lightbulb-esque structure was… completely missing. Removed entirely. Gone without a trace. Shit... Those weren’t exactly cheap pieces of equipment… 

Mn. Now that she thought about it, that wasn’t really the issue at hand here. No, it seemed the one thing she was _supposed_ to do she’d failed at. The soft touch of dread pooling at her feet was slowly building up into a tidal wave as she glanced around, wondering what on earth to do here. 

It was an odd inner clash of delight from being able to do something she was usually silenced for and the dread of failing at such an important task. In the midst of dealing with two very different emotions trying to act as if they belonged in her head at the same time (like come on it isn’t free real estate up there!) orange eyes managed to catch the shift of something. Rather bright. 

As much as the soldier had some… _issues_ paying attention, it was more or less impossible to miss all of the wanted posters and alerts for Agent Three. That Hi-viz, those headphones and those shoes were impossible to mistake. Only one thing washed over the Octoling in those very few seconds; She still had a chance.

Feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline from everything prior, she turned on her heel, brain going a mile a minute as she tried to conjure up a good plan. But all she was getting from said brain was what could only be explained as a bunch of exclamation marks and nothing more. Which had ended up with her claws being dug into nearby wood, scrambling and clambering up to the top of one of the tall stacks of crates. 

There were so many of these damn things in here they more or less formed a weird, confusing maze… especially with how they were placed. But 3551 didn’t specifically care about that right now, no in fact she was giving herself a pat on the back for this ingenious plan! She had the higher ground! Even though the lights were off she could see that little sprinting ball of blue and green.

A new surge of energy rushed through her veins as she reached the top, not wasting a second to start her pursuit. Boots hitting hard against the planks below her feet, something in her chest was racing hard, unable to really stop herself as her beak opened once again.

_A game of chase? Is that what you want?_  
_I never would have expected such a taunt!_  
_Especially not- Oh ESPECIALLY not from_  
_Agent Three~!_

Said Agent was pretty pleased with herself up until a few seconds ago. She’d done her task incredibly well if she did say so herself! Retrieving the Zapfish and not kicking up a fuss with the distracted Octoling! Cod, she was so good at this. 

Currently doing her best to reach the exit, she was about to give some more needless praise for seemingly getting a good start on doing that without being spotted until the sound of someone’s voice caused her to skid to a halt. Zapfish tucked neatly under her arm she glanced in the direction that familiar sound was coming from but the sight in front of her quickly erased all feeling of familiarity. 

Once the Zapfish had been plucked from its perch, all of the lights in the facility went out, something that absolutely did _not_ make Three squeak in surprise, but all was fine and dandy she still managed to get her bearings and was on her way out! Until now. She swallowed thickly at the sight in front of her, as right _right_ up above sat a bioluminescent nightmare. 

Amber eyes glowing as bright as a newly formed campfire bore holes right through her chest, while circles of pink seemed to hover motionless in the darkness, it was like something out of one of her childhood nightmares and Three was not particularly up for that right now. 

And the worst part of all of this is that it was _talking_ to her… well, if she was honest, it was more like singing but if that wasn’t a sign to get a move on, Three didn’t know what was. She immediately broke into a harsh sprint to distance herself from the fucking _demon_ perched above her.

Unfortunately for the Octoling above, she’d picked the time when Three’s fight or flight meter had ticked very heavily over onto the flight side of things to jump off of her rather tall perch in an attempt to tackle the other to the floor. In hindsight, it was a stupid plan to begin with but the soldier was fueled by a newfound passion for musical prowess so all stupid plans were okay in her book, as long as she could keep belting her thoughts out like this!

_You have something right there, that belongs to me!_  
_Unfortunately, bright squid, you’re going to have to return that~_  
_Immediat-_AH.

The failure in such a plan had come crashing down along aside her as instead of hitting her now sprinting target, 3551 had slammed right into a crate across from her. I mean, it would’ve been rare for her to hit anything else there was nothing _but_ crates in this damn warehouse but nevertheless. Groaning softly, she quickly pushed herself up, only just catching a glance of her escaping foe. Wincing a little, the warehouse was suddenly flooded with light… huh. The backup generator must’ve finally kicked in. 

A hand moved to slam down against the floor in frustration and also to push herself up, but instead came in contact with something that caused her hand to smack against the ground once again. Everything seemed to freeze for a moment as she watched the object in question roll across the ground from the sudden force. Teeth bared in an excited grin as she pushed herself to her feet.

As much as a good Agent was supposed to never look back,yet when the lights flickered on, she couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder. Sighing loudly when she realised she was, in fact, not being chased by some sort of fucking creature from the ocean depths and instead it was just that loud soldier from before. As much as that shouldn’t have been something to ease her nerves, it _really_ did. Her harsh sprint slowing down to something a little more manageable, now that she wasn’t panicking an absolute monster was chasing her. 

She was SO gonna do this now!

Cod, she was so good at her Agent job! Who else in Inkopolis could sneak into a warehouse unnoticed and get out without the Zapfish! No one, thats wh-

“H-HEY!”

Coming to a sudden halt, she whipped her head back and forth in an attempt to locate the lost fish. Luckily for her, the thief had decided to start running her mouth once again, Three’s head snapping towards the sound in confusion. 

A little way in front of her by now was that damn Octarian soldier on… rollerskates? Was that what those were? It was the only thing she could really compare the wheeled footwear too. Not like it mattered! That soldier had her Zapfish! 

Wasting no more time standing and gawking at the sudden competition, she began to hurtle after the other as fast as she could. The oddly alluring yet slightly off key voice of the other almost fueling her, teasing her in a way, daring her to try and keep up.

_As I was saying, dear Agent, this is mine~!_  
_Not even a please will get your hands on this lil guy!_  
_I was assigned to keep him safe, and that's what I’ll do!_  
_Especially from the likes of you!_

Not wanting to leave her audience without a show, careful placement of her feet quickly spun the Octarian round so that she was now skating backwards, facing the other girl who was desperate to keep up with her. A slight grin on her features as she weaved back and forth. It was enjoyable to see the determination on her foes face despite being so far back, but what she didn’t expect was a response.

_I-I'm gonna get that back you know!_  
_Don’t you dare think that's yours to keep!_  
_I came here to get a job done_  
_And I ain’t lettin’ you get it, especially not when you’re so cocky n’ upbeat!_

Was she... doing that happy word thing back at her? OOoh!! This wasn’t just an audience! This was a participating one! How delightful! That slight grin quickly transforming into a bright smile. No one had ever done that back at her before!! 

Three was just as surprised as the other over this newfound development, something about the way she’d just spat out her words sounded more like singing than actual words to her… how… wierd. She hated singing… 

Despite the language barrier, the two managed to make an odd connection through music. Neither could understand what the other had said, yet something about their tones ignited two very different sparks for either cephalopod. The soldier couldn’t help but chuckle, starting to let her cockiness take over her desire to actually get the Zapfish back to where it belongs, doing all sorts of fancy and over the top maneuvers and spins.

_I’m impressed you managed to get it once!_  
_Though that's all you’ll really get from me_  
_I’m not one to be easily excited_  
_Especially not by Agent-_

_ **SLAM** _

Her desire to be a complete show off had finally come back to slap her in the face… rather, the back of the head. A low hanging sign caught her off guard and sent her face first into the ground, groaning softly the soft zaps and jolts of the Zapfish’s protective bubble laced her hearing as it rolled away from her grip. Footsteps grew ever closer, finally coming to a halt as she raised her slightly dizzy head to look upwards at the supposed war criminal. 

Zapfish once again tucked beneath her arm and a rather pleased grin on her face, something about it was oddly cute yet incredibly frustrating. She had some kind of weird metal on her beak, was that some kind of newfound defensive thing?? Whatever it was, no time to dwell on it. She was quick to push herself up, well as quickly as one could after hitting their head in such a fashion But by then Agent Three was already off dashing down the next isle of crates in frantic escape.

And in other case this would be… frustrating, anger inducing but oh no. Not to this Octarian, who was already hot on her heels in pursuit.

Another plan was cooking up in that musically enhanced head of hers, kicking her skates off she once again began scaling a nearby tower of crates. _Finding_ Three from this height wasn’t anything to write home about but just finding her wasn’t exactly the tail end to her rushed plan. Soft, hushed lyrics of whatever came to mind mumbled under her breath while she gave chase; acting as if this was more a silly game of tag rather than chasing the most wanted criminal in Octarian society as of late.

Everything she knew about being a soldier was _gone_ for the time being, to her this was all a simple game where she could trill her heart out with an interactive audience; getting the Zapfish back was just a bonus at this point. There was no more direness to actions anymore, the Agent responding to her silly gibberish was a bullseye-scoring shot taken to all the worries about being caught and punished. 

Coming up to a bend on the top of the wooden aisle, she reached her destination fairly quick. Crates were stacked haphazardly the closer you got to the exit, which meant she could _easily_ create a block in the road! 

It wasn’t as if 3551 was muscular by any means- no. But all of her tiny determination was enough to shift and disturb some crates just enough, causing them to go crashing down towards the racing Agent. Smashing into pieces against the floor below and just barely missing their target. Breathing hitching loudly to echo off the nearby walls, the green squid stumbled back in shock at the sudden mountain of mess in front of her, clutching the Zapfish’s holder close to her chest. 

_You really think I’d be that easy to get rid of?_  
_That’s quite the fools mistake!_  
_Your path is blocked, you’ve nowhere to go_  
_So go ahead, try ‘n get past this!_

_A-ARE YOU COD DAMN INSANE_  
_YOU COULD’VE CRUSHED ME!_

There was a few seconds of silence as the two shared a good healthy helping of eye contact since neither had any clue what the other was saying before Three fumbled around with the Zapfish. Balancing it in one hand, their fangs breached their lip as the protective container was tossed over the debris. Sighing shakily as the sound of hitting sparking once it hit the ground but not _breaking_ hit her ears, she quickly tugged her heroshot out. 

Inking the wood was no issue, the mess it had left was too much for the smaller girl to possibly climb over but _swim_ over? That she could do. Glancing up at the still perched Octarian, she couldn’t help but shoot them a smirk as she reclaimed her spherical prize before continuing her escape.

Cod _DAMN_ it! She was so sure that would work! Quickly clambering down to land on top of the absolute mess of wooden planks and metal she’d created, the Octoling huffed. About to start her own pursuit up once again before caught her attention. It was nothing special, most people would’ve been too focused on chasing down their target to notice it. Yet a simple metal canister catching the twitchy of a flickering ceiling light was it all it took to grab her attention and _oh._

Oh now _that_ she could use.

With Three so close to the exit, she slowed her haste just a tiny bit. That Octoling was nowhere in sight, and despite a part of her she was trying to ignore was a little crestfallen not hearing the others voice anymore, she was glad that this mission was finally coming to a close. There weren't that many crates and boxes around anymore, not ones stacked up to create a labyrinth-like hell anyways. So she wasn’t too worried about getting jumped from above. Nope! Just a straight shot to the exit! 

_SH-ING_

An all too familiar sound filled her ears. What young squid nowadays didn’t turf at least… semi-regularly. There was no way in hell she’d mistake the sound of a special being activated. Daring to glance over her shoulder instead of immediatly bolting for the exit like the stupid 16 year old she was made her really get a spring in her step once she saw exactly what was coming her way.

You never stand ground towards a kraken-formed Cephalopod. 

Sliding across the floor in fast paced attempt to catch up to the other, the soldier was still running her damn mouth, though her voice was slightly pitched and garbled from this newer form.

_Just give it up! That’s not yours to hold!_  
_No matter where you run, or hide_  
_I’ll be on your tail, I’ll be right behind_  
_Until your failure is defined!_

As much as this seemed like a good plan of operations, the Octarian could feel the canned special slowly starting to wear off. It was surely difficult to describe how it felt when a special was leaving your no-bones form, but it was something you definitely had to build resistance up for, and it always wore off at the worst times too!

She was so close! Right on Three’s heel! She couldn’t just give up _now!_

One last jump in the overly large form caused her to shift and twist back to normal in mid air. The overly large cephalopod form splattering ink all over the ground as it warped and twisted back to the more humanoid looking appearance, being airborne for a few moments before slamming right into the outlaw. The two tumbled over for a moment as the Zapfish’s container hit the floor with a dull buzz before rolling out of the two’s reach. 

With both the Octarian and Inkling getting their bearings, the young soldier had ended up resting upside down atop the Agent. Bleary eyed and slightly confused, both let their vision bleed back in as their eyes flickered open, now resting on the orb a few steps away from them. Silence coated the pair for a moment before it quickly became a scramble for who could get it first. 

No words were spoken but _some_ kind of rhythm was surely felt as Three pushed herself up. Taking a quick step forward only to be tugged down onto the ground from her ankles, squirming as the Octoling clambered over her. Well! Two can play at that game! Grabbing the soldiers waist, she was quickly shoved to the side. To an outsider, their ‘fight’ would’ve looked rather pathetic, but as the two drew near the Octopus opened her beak once more.

_It belongs to us, stop trying to stop me!_  
_Your fighting is weak, your grabs are flimsy!_  
_Just let me take the damn thing_  
_So I_  
_can_  
_get_  
_off_  
_Ea-_

_Click_

Sy…

Well, the soldier had found herself in quite the position. Stomach and chin on the ground, her claws wrapped around the Agent’s leg with a heroshot pointed directly at her. A droplet of green ink that leaked from the nozzle and onto the ground made her swallow thickly as any lightheartedness of the situation fizzled out as if it was doused with water. 

Eyes wide and full of anxiety ridden fear as she slowly but surely released the leg of the other girl, her chest heaving as the two stared at each other long and hard. What was _confusing_ to the poor Octarian as to why she wasn’t just taken out then and there, why wasn’t she ripped apart like all of the rumors stated... 

Agent Three looked just as scared as she was, eyes darting from left to right before shoving her heroshot into its holster, the two sharing one last glance before she sprinted for the exit. Her footsteps quickly echoing out as 3551 lay motionless for a moment, trying to get her breath back.

She was gonna be in so much shit. 

Dread was once again pooling at her feet as she began her slow walk back to her station, head heavy with regret and frustration… _yet._ An odd little bubble of happiness was still bouncing around in her chest like a DVD idle screen. The closer she got to her post, the higher her head rose. Something about this felt. Okay.

It SHOULDN’T be, not under any circumstances but. Something about it was _okay._ Giving a low groan, the tired soldier sat back down on the crate that had technically started this whole mess. Yes, of course the crate was for blame. Who else was?! 

Sighing softly, she leant back a little, letting her shoulders droop before starting to tap her claws against the wood once more. Her commander could come and pick her up when the missing power source would be brought to attention. After all, it wasn’t often she was truly alone like this… so she was going to enjoy all the loud and cacophonous noises she could make for the time being.


End file.
